Getting Startup Error windows 10 failed to start error 0xc000000f, 0xc0000001 or 0xc000000e? After installing the latest Windows Updates or install new hardware device and reboot your computer, you may get the following error message: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might have caused the issue.

The main problem is that you won’t be able to boot into Windows and you will be stuck at this error message screen. Every time you restart your PC you will again face the same error message until you fix the issue. Incompatible or faulty hardware, software (program or application) or driver/update that you recently installed to corrupt boot files or an issue with your HDD (or SSD) Are the common reason Behind this:

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Error: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might have
caused the issue after you install Windows Updates

Note: Below solutions are applicable where Windows crashes or freezes while starting. If your PC isn’t starting at all, then most probably it is not a Windows problem. There is a good chance that it is an external problem – like faulty hardware or power supply – so take the right measures accordingly.

Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might have caused the issue.

Start with Basic Troubleshooting first Remove any external devices such as printers, camera, scanners, etc and try booting. Sometimes bad drivers can cause this problem as Windows begins to load. If Windows boots, try and determine which device caused the problem and look for updated drivers.

Turn off the computer. Unplug it ( remove power code, VGA cable, USB device etc ) and hold the power button for twenty seconds. Plug it back in and try booting again. If you are laptop user simply disconnect the Battery/Unplug power adapter ( charger ) press the power button for 20sec. Again attach the battery and start windows normally.

Make sure that your computer detects its HDD and is booting from it

Restart your computer, and at the first screen that you see, press the key that will take you into its BIOS settings. You will find this key on both your computer’ user manual and on the first screen, you see when it boots up. Once in the BIOS settings, peruse its tabs until you find the Boot priority order (or Boot order). Highlight Boot priority order and press Enter, and when you see a list of devices that your computer tries to boot from, make sure that your HDD is on the top of the list.

Perform Startup Repair

Windows 8 and Windows 10 come with a built-in startup repair option that can scan and repair missing or damaged startup system files. To use this feature you need to boot from a windows installation media. If you don’t have then create a windows 10 bootable media by following this link.

Insert the Windows 10 bootable installation DVD or USB and restart your PC. When prompted to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press any key to continue. Select your language preferences, and click Next. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left.

Windows will restart and scan your PC for problems, If finds any problem, it will automatically try to fix it. Wait until complete the scanning process after that windows restart itself and start normally. Also Check: Fix Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC.

Use the Last Known Good Configuration to Start Windows

You can boot into Last Known Good Configuration before taking any other solutions to solve the “A recent hardware or software change might have caused the issue after you install Windows Updates” issue.

Type exit and press Enter. Go back to the Choose an option screen, and click Continue to restart Windows 10. Eject your Windows 10 installation disk to get Boot options. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight “Last Known Good Configuration (Advanced)” and then press Enter. Windows will start normally.

Boot into last known good configuration

Rebuild BCD configuration and Fix MBR

Again If the Boot Configuration Data is missing, get corrupted, you cannot boot your Windows normally. So if above solutions failed to fix the problem and still getting windows failed to start. a recent hardware or software change may be the cause error at startup. We recommend trying to Rebuild BCD configuration and Fix Master Boot Record ( MBR ). Which mostly fix this type of startup problems.

To Do this again access advanced options and click on Command prompt. Now perform command below one by one and hit the enter key to execute the same.

If all above solutions failed to fix this problem then try the system restore feature from Advanced options. Which revert current windows configuration to previous working state.

Advanced Boot options on windows 10

These are some effective solutions to fix the error: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might have caused the issue after you install Windows Updates. on windows 10, 8.1 and 7 computers. I am sure after applying these solutions your windows start normally without any error like windows 10 failed to start error 0xc000000e, 0xc000000f, 0xc0000001 etc. have any query, suggestion about this post feel free to discuss on comments below.